Shop 'til you drop handbag card

Hi folks! Here's a card I made using the Shopping Diva stamp set. Such a great image, it inspired me to have a go at making a shaped handbag card.

I cut the handbag shape using my Cricut (I think this shape was from one of the Mickey Mouse Cartridges!) The pretty pink polka dot paper is by ATD (American Traditional designs) I stamped the swirls with the glue pad from Martha Stewart's 'Glitter Stamping Starter Kit' and rubbed on some silver transfer foil. It's the first time I have used the foil sheets and I'm really impressed with the results. I just used a quickie glue pen to adhere the foil for the clasp. I coloured the image with Copic Markers and added a touch of gloss accents to her sunglasses. I cut out the image with a slight border to help her stand out from the background. I added a dotty ribbon bow and the sentiment (from the stamp set) which I cut out with scalloped scissors and shaped with my fingers before adhering with glue gel.

I finished off the inside using more of the papers, ribbon and my Nestabilities. A pretty card for shopaholics everywhere.

Ciao for now!

Sandra x

Sweet Stampin GDT Sketch card

Hi folks! Well, it's my last week over on Sweet Stampin as their GDT for this month and I have to admit that they saved the best challenge until last. It's a sketch! I had so much fun making this card. Seems like I have missed using sketches.

I used DCWV patterned papers and wrapped around some self adhesive lace. I used my Nellie Snellen oval die set to cut the oval plate. I threaded some ribbon through and wrapped that around too. I die cut the letters, ampersand and decorative corners with my Cuttlebug. The large scalloped oval is a Nestability die cut which I embossed and stamped the swirls onto. The cute little characters are by Lili-of-the-Valley, I painted them with watercolours and Pearlidoodles. I cut them out and adhered them to the scalloped oval with dimensional glue gel. I made the little flowers using my Woodware punches, shaped them and inked the edges. I glued them in place with the gel and added self adhesive pearls to the centres. The last finishing touch was to add a couple of wire tendrils to the flower arrangements.

Have a great weekend.

Ciao for now!

Sandra x

Dare U 2 Digi 'Easter' Challenge

Hi folks! It's time for another challenge over on Dare U 2 Digi stamp and this time we want to see your 'Easter' digi's. I love the translucent quality that's created when I print out my digi designs and use meltdust on top, so I thought I would have a play with the idea and came up this card.

I creased my own acetate card blank and used my EK Success border punch. I printed and embossed (using Meltdust Silver pearl) my image (available here) and coloured it in on the reverse with my Copic Markers. I cut the image out leaving a border and adhered it to the card blank using a blob of dimensional glue gel, under the bow. For the sentiment I used my Cuttlebug 'Olivia' alphabet dies and cut through a sheet of adhesive. I carefully stuck the letters onto the card and covered them with Martha Stewart 'peridot' glitter. I finished the card off by adhering large Petaloo flowers and gem centres.

Enjoy your fab Friday.

Ciao for now!

Sandra x

It's the thought that counts...!

Hi folks!

Here's a card I made using my Exercise Diva stamp set. Quite a simple one. I wanted a retro feel to the card as her cool headband and leisure gear made me feel all nostalgic.

I used patterned cardstock by We R Memory Keepers. It's really yummy and already glittered. I added some adhesive to a length of thin ribbon and pleated it as I popped it onto the card. All the images are from the set. I coloured them with Copic Markers, cut them out and adhered them to the card with dimensional glue gel. The sentiment is also part of the set, I just stamped it onto a scrap of white card and free hand cut it out in a 'thought bubble' shape.

I could think of a few friends that might have a giggle when recieving a card like this.

Enjoy your day!

Sandra x

Bathtime Diva Card

Morning folks! I've got my bathtime Diva card to share with you today. I folded my own landscape A6 card blank and covered it with patterned papers by ATD (I really like the cute polka dot blue design) I used my Nestability label die to cut an apperture through the front panel. I covered the label that popped out with more co-ordinating blue paper and adhered it to the inside of the card in exactly the same place as the apperture. Dimentional glue gel is great for doing this as you can slide the panel into place.

I stamped and coloured the image with Copic Markers and Cosmic Shimmer watercolour paints. Cut them out carefully and adhered them into place.

One of my favourite things to do at the moment is punch out shapes from double sided adhesive sheets, adhere one side to acetate and coat them with glitter, which is what I have done here to create the bubbles. I finished off the card by adding some polka dot ribbon,a bow and three self adhesive pearls to the top left corner.

Ciao for now!

Sandra x

Sweet Stampin' 'Easter' GDT Card

Hi Folks! Hope you are not bored with seeing images from my 'Easter Collection'. I've used some again on this GDT card which I made for this weeks Sweet Stampin challenge which is: Spring (Easter, Daffodils, Pastel or Spring Colours).... I've gone with Easter. In my mind the yellows were much more of a pastel shade but it's not how the card ended up. Looks quite chic so I like it anyway :o)

I knew I wanted yellow polka dots so I downloaded a package from Pink Petticoat, imported the page I wanted to my graphics programme and changed the colour and size until I was happy. Thinking about it I could have saved £1.99 and made my own with My Craft Studio....Doh! I printed the sheet out on some super glossy photo paper. I also used some yellow glitter card and matted all the pieces onto black card. The scalloped strip is a Doodlebug Paper frill which I inked.

I painted the images with a combination of Cosmic Shimmer watercolours and Pearlidoodles. I added glitter dots and sheer ribbon bows for finishing touches.

Hope you enjoy your weekend.

Ciao for now!

Sandra x

Elegant Easter Card

Hi folks! It's a good job that the Dare U 2 Digi Stamp Challenge is fortnightly... as I've only just finished my card ;o) The challenge is not to use any Patterned Paper and, of course, to use your Digi Stamps. I hope you are able to join in with the challenge. If you need any inspiration, my fellow DT have come up with some fabulous ideas.

For my card I used one of the images from my Easter Collection. I printed it onto 'Meltdust' Vellum, sprinkled silver pearl Meltdust on top and heat embossed it. I coloured the egg from behind with Copic Markers and painted the stand and bow with cream pearlidoodles on the front. I ran the Vellum through my Xyron 510 and adhered to white cardstock which I trimmed to the size of the vellum. I added glitter to the edges of the panel and some self adhesive pearls to the corners. A little more matting and layering and the panel was ready to adhere to the card. I cut the large blue panel of textured card to size and used my trusty swirl stamps to stamp and emboss the silver design. The sentiment is from a stamp set by Paula Pascual. I finished off the card with a small silver ribbon bow adhered to the stand.

Ciao for now!

Sandra x

Beach Diva Card

Hi folks! I made this card using the Beach Diva stamp set from Joanna Sheen. I wanted the card give the illusion of looking through binoculars. So I made the extra fold, used my Nestabilities to cut the circles and a black Copic Marker to colour the panel.

I used DCWV patterned papers to over the card, ripped the 'sand' paper and inked it before adhering. I tied a large ribbon bow to the bottom panel. I then stamped the sentiment (from the set) on a piece of scrap card which I tore, inked and tucked behind the bow.I stamped the Diva out and coloured her with Copic Markers. I went over her sunglasses with a black Sakura Gelly Roll pen and added Sepia glossy accents on the book cover and glass.

This angle shows a glimpse of the acetate that I adhered behind the black panel.

Ciao for now!

Sandra x

Glitter Ball Card... Get your Sunnies' out for this one

Hi folks! This is another one of those cards where I saw the stamp (Dancing Diva) and I knew exactly what I wanted to create, it was just a case of... how was I going to do it?! That's right, I wanted a huge Glitter Ball. I cut 2 large circles, one from silver mirri card and used a thick marker pen to draw the sections on the reverse. Using a craft knife I cut all of the 'spaces' and glued them to the other circle (which I had painted with Cosmic Shimmer silver paint)

I covered the card base with patterned paper by ATD and sprayed it with Rich Purple 'that special touch of...mica mist'. Layered the prepared Glitter Ball on top of that. I stamped the characters and coloured them with Copic Markers and highlighted the swirls on her dress with cosmic shimmer glitter glue. I adhered them with dimensional glue gel and added loops of ribbon and a huge feather behind. I finished off the card by adding the stamped sentiment which I shaped with my fingers and inked around the edges.

Hope you have a fab day.

Ciao for now!

Sandra x

'Photo' Mother's Day Cards for Grandma's

Hi folks! Here's the photo card that I made for Mum & MIL. It was so lovely to see their faces light up when they saw them.

I used a piece of Co-ordinations blue cardstock, added the swirl texture with a Fiskars Texture plate and lightly sanded all over. My Crop-a-dile shaped corner chomper (phew that's a mouthful) chomped the corners of my photo and I added some self adhesive pearls once I had layered the photo onto some white card which I had edged with blue ink. I used scraps of ribbon on the side if the card. I adhered the photo panel with foam tape to add dimension.

I cut the sweet little dragonflies from some scraps of patterned paper that I found lurking in my stash. I added some glamour dust to the body and wings and some curled wire for the antennae. I shaped the dragonflies with my fingers before sticking in place with dimensional glue gel.

I cut the letters from white funky foam with my Go-Kreate 'Lingfield' alphabet die plate. The 'Grandma' card was for Adrian's Mum and 'Abuela' (which also means Grandma) for my Mum.

Thanks so much for looking and for your lovely comments.

Ciao for now!

Sandra x

Happy Mother's Day...!

Hi folks! I made two of these cards. One for my Mum and the other for my Mum-in-Law. I used a beautiful image from Joanna Sheen's Fashion Boutique Cd rom. I made the frame using my Cricut and some lovely pearlescent cardstock. I placed two fluffy feathers behind the frame which I adhered to the DCWV patterned luxury cardstock with dimensional glue gel.

I printed the sentiment using my Xyron Design runner directly onto some cream pearlescent card, shaped it with my fingers before attaching with brads.

I'll be sharing Mother's Day photo cards that I made for my children to give to Grandma's tomorrow.

Ok I'll stop babbling now as it's almost 1:30am and I need to get some sleep... have got a busy day tomorrow.

I hope you all have an enjoyable Mother's Day.

Night Night.

Sandra x

Sweet Stampin' GDT card

Hi folks, here's my GDT card that I made last week for the Sweet Stampin Challenge. (Still trying to catch up with my DU2DS card... sorry gang) This week its a Colour Challenge and fabulous Faye sent me the cardstock to play with.

I used my Patchwork Pals stamps, first time these have had a outing. Stamped the flowers, leaves and Bonnie's clothes on the coloured cardstock that Faye sent me (cheers Hunni) Bonnie herself, the tree and swing I stamped on white Bristol board and coloured with my Copic Markers.

I carefully cut all the pieces out and arranged them, as per photo, on a square panel made using the Sage Shadow cardstock which I had embossed and gently rubbed over with gold metallic rub on. I added glossy accents to Bonnie's bow and shoes. I die cut the '5' with my Sizzix number die.

I hope you have a fantastic weekend and Mum's everywhere get t put your feet up on Sunday!

Ciao for now!

Sandra x

Other Challenges:

Raise the Bar -'Green'

Stamp Something - 'Cream & Green'

Cupcake Challenge - 'Flowers'

Stamp with Fun - 'Spring'

Stamp Scrap & Doodle Saturdays -'Open Challenge'

The Saturday Challenge - 'Anything Goes'

Cute Card Thursday - 'Celebrations!'

Creative Card Crew - 'It's a Celebration'

My Time to Craft - 'Kidz Cardz'

Joanna Sheen's new 'Diva' stamp range ;o)

Hi folks! Sorry I haven't been around much lately but I have been beavering away making some cards for Joanna Sheen. These lush new Diva stamps were on Create and Craft this morning so it's OK to share them with you now. I have to say I had so much fun creating these samples. The images are a dream to stamp. When I saw this little Diva knitting I just knew I had to create a huge ball of wool for her.

I rushed out to the shops and bought some wool (not being a knitter I had none in the house....you may see this wool appearing on many cards in the future ;o) I made the large circle card blank using my Gypsy and Cricut, cutting an extra circle the same size. I then cut across the bottom of all the layers so the card stands well. I added dry adhesive to both sides of the loose circle using my Xyron X4 and wound the wool around it. I stamped the image and coloured it with Copic Markers. When I cut her out I left a small white boarder all around as I felt it would help the image 'pop'. I adhered the 'ball of wool' to the front of the card using dimensional glue gel. I did have to old it in place for a good 5 mins as the glue took hold.... it had a tendency to spring up at the edges... lots of patience required for this one.

I covered the inside with some patterned paper from K&Co and used my Nestabilities to die cut the circle and scalloped circle. The little ball of wool and knitting needles was also part of the stamp set. I finished off the card by adding the stamped sentiment that I backed onto some gold mirri card and used some wool to tie a bow.

I am hoping to squeeze in some time this weekend to make a card for this weeks Dare U 2 Digi Stamp challenge which is already underway. The challenge is not to use any patterned paper and of course, to use a digi stamp. My fellow DT have come up with some great ideas. Hop on over if you would like some inspiration.

Ciao for now!

Sandra x

Guest DT & 'Inspirational' feature :o)

Hi folks! It has been over a week since my last post... I'm so sorry but things have been hectic in the Dry household. I have a couple of things I would like to share with you. Firstly, the lovely Faye has invited me to be one of this months Guest DT on the Sweet Stampin Challenge.

This weeks challenge is 'Something for a child'. I set about making this card for a friend of the twins... yep, they have been invited to another party (I seem to be making lots of cards for 5 year old little boys and girls)

I coloured the lovely 'Toodles & Binks Explore' stamp with Copic markers. The gorgeous double sided papers are by Imaginesce. I simply cut a tall 'X' in the centre of the paper, curled the flaps back and secured them in place with brads. The sentiment is stamped from the T&B set, inked with Distress inks and spritzed with Cosmic shimmer mists. The letters and number are die cut from my 'dragonfly' Quickutz alphabet and I have used some household string to trim the card.

My other exciting news is that the lovely Ann has chosen my blog to be featured on Inspirational. I am so delighted and honoured that she chose me :o) Thank you Ann!

That's all for now folks!

Sandra x